Mobile subscribers in Zimbabwe will receive some financial relief in the wake of a 40% downward revision of phone tariffs by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).

The regulator said that the move was prompted by the need there was need to strike a balance between affordability of services by consumers and the viability of operators. In a statement, the POTRAZ board said: “The strengthening of the United States currency against other regional currencies has resulted in a reduction in regional tariffs,”

As a result of hyper inflation and currency devaluation in the Southern African country, all three mobile network service providers started billing their customers in foreign currency.

Econet Wireless, the biggest of the three network providers, has already reduced its tariffs based on the PORTAZ directive.